Tamiflu Dangers: What if Modern Medicine Causes Flu Deaths?

In December of 2019 two people died from the flu: Michael Czaruk,  a 36-year-old paramedic in Las Vegas, Nevada, and an 86-year-old woman in San Diego, California. Both had been vaccinated against the flu. The mainstream media highlighted these deaths to illustrate the dangers of the flu, as well as the importance of getting a flu vaccine. Given both of the people who died had had a flu vaccine, I think it’s time to read past the headlines.

Prescribed Tamiflu

We know from the news that Michael Czaruk was prescribed Tamiflu.

According to the Review Journal:

An official cause of death for Czaruk has not been determined, the Clark County coroner’s office said Friday, but his family believes the flu killed him.

His sister Sara-Nichole Prock said that about a week before his death, her brother was diagnosed with influenza, strep throat and a bacterial infection, but that his doctor said ‘the main thing was the flu.

Czaruk’s family also noted that doctors prescribed Tamiflu, an anti-viral medication for the flu, when he was diagnosed with influenza.

What is Tamiflu?

Tamiflu is an antiviral medication. Doctors prescribe it widely to treat the flu.

Oseltamivir is its generic name.

Doctors prescribe it to block two influenza viruses: types A and B.

Currently available by prescription only, Tamiflu is slated to be switched to an over-the-counter medication, according to Pharmacy Times. The date of the switch is unknown.

However, according to the drug’s manufacture, the United States market is the largest over-the-counter market in the world. In addition, a successful switch of Tamiflu to OTC will support their “global cough and cold strategy.” In other words, making Tamiflu over-the-counter will make it easier to obtain and more prevalent.

That’s not good news. Even common medications “generally accepted as safe” aren’t always effective. At times they can even be hurtful. So it stands to reason that we take a moment to consider the possibility that modern medical practices are not curbing flu deaths, but quite possibly contributing to them.

What if it’s status quo medications, like Tamiflu, Tylenol, and antibiotics, not the flu viruses themselves, that are causing many, if not most, flu deaths?

Science-forward research on modern medicine flu ‘remedies’

Let’s take a look at the research on Tamiflu.:

According to an outstanding investigative article in the Atlantic, an FDA committee declined to approve Tamiflu in 1999 after finding that Tamiflu had not been shown to reduce pneumonia or mortality.

FDA administrators overruled the expert advisors and approved it anyway.

The FDA later instructed the company to issue the following statement:

Tamiflu has not been proven to have a positive impact on the potential consequences (such as hospitalizations, mortality, or economic impact) of seasonal, avian, or pandemic influenza.

In 2009, a decade after the FDA approve the drug, an agency spokesperson told the BMJ that clinical trials “failed to demonstrate any significant difference in rates of hospitalization, complications, or mortality in patients receiving either Tamiflu or placebo.”

So, at best, this is an ineffective drug, which is a good enough reason not to take it.

But what if it isn’t only ineffective? What if Tamiflu is actually harmful?

Dangers of Tamiflu

As with any medication, Tamiflu can have side effects. Some are mild. Some are more severe. Many people who take it report getting headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and rashes, as well as eczema (a skin condition), and psychotropic side effects, like, agitation, anxiety, nightmares.

Less commonly, Tamiflu can cause some very serious side effects.

The dangers of Tamiflu include:

1. Anaphylaxis
2. A Skin Disorder With Blistering And Peeling Skin Called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome
3. A Skin Disorder With Blistering And Peeling Skin Called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis
4. Abnormal Heart Rhythm
5. Abnormal Liver Function Tests
6. Behavioral Problems
7. Bleeding Of The Stomach Or Intestines
8. Confusion
9. Delirium
10. Erythema Multiforme, A Type Of Allergic Skin Reaction
11. Hallucinations
12. Hives
13. Inflammation of the large intestine with bleeding
14. Inflammation of the liver
15. Puffy face from water retention
16. Seizures
17. Tongue swelling

While considered rare, psychotropic problems caused by Tamiflu are common enough and serious enough that an article on Drugs.com has the following warning about the dangers of Tamiflu:

Some people using oseltamivir have had rare side effects of sudden confusion, delirium, hallucinations, unusual behavior, or self-injury. These symptoms have occurred most often in children. It is not known whether this medicine was the exact cause of these symptoms. However, anyone using this medicine [needs close monitoring] for signs of confusion or unusual behavior. Call a doctor at once if you or the child using this medicine has any of these symptoms [my emphasis.]

The dangers of Tamiflu are real. Not just ineffective, Tamiflu can also have sometimes life-threatening side effects.

Don’t take Tylenol when you have the flu

Then there’s Tylenol, the main ingredient of which is acetaminophen (also called paracetamol), one of the most common medications on the planet.

Most people don’t realize that just one extra dose of Tylenol can lead to liver failure in adults.

If a side effect of Tamiflu is also liver swelling and an extra dose of Tylenol can lead to liver failure, it seems particularly dangerous to take Tylenol with Tamiflu. Unfortunately, most doctors remain unaware of this risk.

Acetaminophen is not a safe medication. Never take Tylenol with Tamiflu. Doctors should not recommend it for people suffering from the flu.

Tylenol also isn’t safe for pregnant women.

Don’t take antibiotics when you have a viral infection 

Another way doctors make the flu more dangerous is by prescribing antibiotics. The average American child has had 17 rounds of antibiotics by the time they are 20 years old, according to Martin J. Blaser, M.D., author of Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Modern Plagues. Antibiotics are problematic for many reasons. For one thing, they destroy the healthy bacteria in your gut and elsewhere. We need these beneficial bacteria to fight viral infections.

In fact, if you take antibiotics when you have the flu it can be extremely dangerous. Given Michael Czaruk also had strep throat, a doctor likely prescribed him antibiotics.

The doctor who prescribed them was likely unaware of the new research that shows that mice given antibiotics that had influenza were much more likely to die.

The solution? More research to get to the bottom of the impacts of our “remedies” for the flu. But an even easier one: Do not take a medicine that may kill you.

If you don’t want to take Tamiflu, there are better, safer remedies to try when you have the flu.

Related posts:
Tylenol Alternatives: Better, Safer Remedies
Treating a Sinus Infection Without Antibiotics
Make Just 2 Lifestyle Changes and Never Take Antibiotics Again

Published: December 17, 2019
Last update: November 16, 2022

About Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D.

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., is an investigative journalist, book author, and Fulbright awardee. She is the author of Your Baby, Your Way: Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Parenting Decisions for a Happier, Healthier Family, co-author (with Paul Thomas, M.D.) of The Vaccine-Friendly Plan, and The Addiction Spectrum: A Compassionate, Holistic Approach to Recovery. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.